Guangdong, China, 6th January 2014—The Chinese government has destroyed 6.15 tonnes of seized elephant ivory accumulated through enforcement actions in a move signaling that China is firmly behind international action to address rampant elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade.

Government officials, together with observers including representatives from several embassies in China, the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) China Office, IUCN China Office, and international non-governmental organizations including WWF and TRAFFIC, attended an ivory crushing ceremony earlier today.

Gabon, the Philippines and the USA have all recently destroyed ivory stockpiles, while France has also signaled its intention to do so too.

“The destruction of seized ivory makes an important public statement that, in conjunction with other government-led efforts to reduce demand, has the potential to have a significant impact on the illegal market for ivory,” said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC’s ivory trade expert.

Although China has a legal ivory market based on stocks that pre-date the 1989 CITES ivory trade ban and the CITES-sanctioned “one-off” ivory sale with four African countries in 2008, under CITES rules, seized ivory cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Fan Zhiyong, Head of WWF China’s Species Programme said: “WWF believes that destroying seized ivory is a signal of the government’s commitment to enhance law enforcement against illegal ivory trade that will support international action against elephant poaching and illegal wildlife trade.”

“Tens of thousands of African Elephants are being killed by poachers because of the high demand of ivory. China’s gesture is a solemn commitment by the government to cleanse the Chinese ivory market and to guarantee the survival of Africa’s elephants.”

According to bias adjusted ETIS data, illicit trade in ivory rose in 2011 to the highest levels in at least 16 years and persisted at unacceptably elevated levels through 2012. Preliminary indicators suggest that even higher levels of illicit trade may have been reached in 2013. Although incomplete, the raw data for large-scale ivory seizures in 2013 (involving at least 500 kg of ivory in a single transaction) already represent the greatest quantity of ivory confiscated over the last 25 years for this type of seizure.

Large-scale ivory seizures typically indicate the participation of organized crime and provisional data for 2013 includes 18 such seizures yielding more than 41.6 tonnes of ivory. Analysis of ETIS data has identified China as the major destination for ivory in Asia.

“China’s actions, more than those of any other country, have the potential to reverse the rising trends of elephant poaching and illegal ivory trafficking,” said Milliken.

The ivory destruction ceremony took place following an illegal wildlife trade conference organized by SFA, where recognition rewards were issued for outstanding actions by those involved in combating illegal wildlife trade, including the Beijing Forestry Police Department, Guangzhou Customs, etc.